Uccello's Monster by Cliff McNish

What happens when a monster the size of a town falls in love with you—and will destroy everything to find you?Lily thought her biggest worry was fending off the awkward affection of Uccello, the shy gelato maker with a penchant for fairy tales and heartbreak. But everything changes on her nineteenth birthday, when Uccello's strange gift—a painting of a cyclopean sea monster—emerges from art into reality. The creature is monstrous, lonely, and obsessed with Lily, tearing through the city in its desperate search.As Sunderland trembles and the coastline cracks beneath the weight of something both impossible and real, Lily and Uccello are thrust into a waking nightmare that feels plucked straight from a twisted legend. Haunted by their own tangled feelings and the relentless devotion of the beast, they must navigate terror, obsession, and the thin line between fairy tale and reality.Blending dark romance, urban horror, and coming-of-age ache, Uccello's Monster is a gripping novella that asks: What do we owe the monsters we create—and how far will they go for love?